A paramedic with CFK Africa, an international nonprofit with offices in Kenya was lauded by members of the community on social media for his work last week helping the victim of election-related violence in Kibera.
On the evening of Aug. 15, Paramedic Operator Nicholas Okumu helped evacuate a young man from the Kisumu Ndogo area who was stabbed in the chest, allegedly after election results were announced.
Though Okumu was able to get the man to a hospital, he did not survive.
“I would be lying if I said that I didn’t fear going to Kisumu Ndogo, as I had heard there were pockets of unrest in the area, but I told myself that the person who had been stabbed needed me, and I was the only person who could help him,” said Okumu. “This is what always gives me the courage to respond no matter the situation.”
When he was younger, Okumu wanted to just be an ambulance driver, but after he realized that he could not help patients with medical emergencies unless he was also a paramedic, he sought training from the Kenyan Red Cross in 2018.
He later was hired by CFK, helping run one of the few ambulance services in Kibera, located on the outskirts of Nairobi.
He has evacuated over 200 people in Kibera and over 1,000 in his career.
Okumu said that he often must “debrief” after a patient dies, but the job is still worth it despite the stress.
“Words cannot explain what helping human beings in distress is like, and no amount of money can be equated to the sense of purpose I feel each time I am at work,” he said. “Other times, it’s sad, very sad when a patient dies, but I feel honored to have been the person that tried to help them. Either way, I love my job.”
